What you are fighting for
by Nerd 105
Summary: In an alternate universe where a prodigious Gaige was noticed and recruited by one of Hyperion agents at a young age, the mission for the Hyperion Info Stockade takes an unexpected turn as the five Vault Hunters engage one of Jack's Aces: Gaige the Mechromancer. (Bad summary, i know)
1. Chapter 1

AN: Here it is, my first chapter revised. I've decided to let Gaige make her appearance in the Bright Light, Flying City mission, specifically the Highland - Outwash. My reason for this is that the way i see it, Outwash seems to be some kind of military base under construction that if finished would be at a strategic position and major choke point to guard off bandits and round off the Hyperion territory. That would explain the supply beacon and multiple supply crates lying around. This would also explain Gaige's presence as a supervisor for the construction. I have tried to make the chapter as realistic and pratical as possible without creating an over-the-top fight. If you notice anythings out of place or don't understand the reason behind some detail, feel free to ask, i will try to fix the problems and explain things more clearly in the next chapter.

So...read and review =D

Chapter 1:

"Every Hyperion personnel cease fire!" Gaige shouted over her ECHO com, her voice carried through the various speakers installed around the place, prompting the fight to stop, thought more out of shock than anything.

"What are you doing?"

"We all know how this is going to end, David. Our men are not trained for this. They are engineers for god's sake!"

" _Combat_ engineers."

"Who have no fighting experience whatsoever! This isn't a fight! This is a slaughter!"

"What do you want us to do? Giving them free passage? Do you have any idea what Jack would do should this reach his ears?"

She did. If three years of working for him had taught her anything about Jack, it was that the man never took it kindly to insubordination of any degree and was prone to cruelty if triggered. She had been told by one of her older colleagues that once a programmer had tried to sell the company's technology to another corporation, and the man had been fed alive to a horde of hungry skags in the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve with audio feat broadcasted over Hyperion network. In a sense, working for Jack was like befriending a lion, and even under his borderline tyrannical rule, people were still loyal to him mostly out of fear. Unless…

"No. A fight they will get, but not at the cost of every person in this facility. Hey David, you have the second most authority here right?"

"Yes. Why?" David didn't like what this was going. He couldn't read the expression on the girl's face.

"Tell everyone to standby and do not engage under any circumstance." With that, Gaige stood up from behind their cover and approached the Vault Hunters, her SMG not shouldered but still with safety off.

"No…" Realization dawned on David to what Gaige meant, but it was too late to stop the girl now. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he said through the com, trying to keep his voice as leveled as possible. "Carry all the wounded to the med quarter. Everyone else retreat inside the facility and wait for further directions."

Reluctantly, the engineers filtered inside, some looking back at the young field officer approaching the Vault Hunters with doubt written on their faces. With a grunt, David pushed himself to his feet and staggered behind. One engineer, Frederic if he remembered correctly, noticed his bleeding wound and helped David toward the med bay. Taking one look at Gaige in morose, David sighed. "You stupid girl…"

Calmly standing within hearing distance of the Vault Hunters, Gaige observed them in one tense moment. They were a mismatched group, consisting of individuals with astronomical bounties on their heads, especially the Siren, though she didn't find the assassin among them. He was probably on some vantage point trailing the sniper rifle crosshair on her head. The thought was disconcerting, and the image of an unfortunate engineer's head exploding in a shower of blood and brain matter brought a terrible chill down her spines. The idea seemed way more stupid now than she had thought, but it was the only way to keep the people here alive and not bring Jack's wrath down their head afterward.

"I'm Gaige, Hyperion chief engineer and field officer." It was an awkward introduction, but she was in no press for time, so it couldn't hurt.

"Well, the name's Axton. Ten years of Dahl military experience at your service."

"Salvador. Gunzerker." The short one grunted out.

"I'M THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!"

So the two men seemed to disregard her as a threat. That's good. The Siren just furrowed her browns, obviously more observant and wary than the other. She could be a major threat with that alone, not to mention her unknown Siren power. The assassin was not among them, but he most certainly had figured out that Gaige was more than she looked.

"Cut the crap and get to the point." The Siren said, still shouldering her SMG and ready to put a few bullets in her head.

"I want a deal." Gaige knew she was playing dangerous here. There's no telling if the Vault Hunters would keep to their words. She was the best fighter here, and even if they didn't know that, it would be much easier to put down a threat while they could. A bullet and all's done. "I will fight you, all of you, and if I win…" _not likely_ – she added mentally "…you will drop your weapons and surrender." Again it's not the best kind of deal. They would probably fight to the dead, but this would have to do. She had practically no chance of winning anyway.

"And what if we win?" The Dahl ex-soldier said with amusement.

"You are free to go through without any resistance." _And spare everyone here._ The Siren's brows widened a little. She must have picked up the meaning behind this proposition.

"Deal!"

"Axton!"

"What? She just a kid!"

The sound of moonshot landing startled them all, except for the self-dubbed mechromancer. Someone must have called for back-up from the Hyperion space station. Not much it would do, but it's a good distraction nonetheless. Her delayed cloaking device activated and Gaige quickly dived for one of the supply crates, mentally timing the moment the Vault Hunters' magazine run out shooting the constructor. Feeling rather than hearing the Siren's gun reloading, Gaige popped out and activated the spawning mechanic on her cybernetic arm. With what equaled to a mechanical grunt, Deathtrap appeared in a swill or digiconstruction particles, his deployable shield on the left arm raised to block the oncoming bullets. Quickly activating the half-charged cloaking device again, Gaige tossed out a slag mirv grenade and ducked behind cover to avoid the assassin's sniper rifle.

"Slam!" Gaige shouted and fired a shock round from her pistol, effectively charging Deathtrap's shield with the element. Raising the shield like a battle ram Deathtrap flew forward, forcing the Vault Hunters to jump to the side, except for the hulking Psycho who was screaming something about flesh and blood. The jet-propelled momentum threw him off his feet and crashed into the pile of supply boxes. Using the distraction, Gaige kicked up her Anarchy overdrive system and sprayed shock-charged bullets at the general direction of the Siren and Gunzerker. The sound of shield failing could be heard and Gaige tossed out another grenade, this time a singularity. It was not particularly damaging, and it only caught the gunzerker, but that was enough to put him out of the fight temporary.

"Turret out!" The Dahl ex-soldier yelled over the explosive noise. It was unnecessarily stupid to announce your position and action to the enemy, but she was not going to complain. She was going to do it anyway.

"Death lance!"

Deathtrap's right hand digistructed an energy beam crudely in the shape of a lance and swiped at both the deploying turret and the one behind it.

"What the FUCK!" Shouted Axton as he narrowly evaded the robot's swipes. With a shout, Maya channeled her power and locked the robot in a giant purple sphere just before it cleaved the man in half. But before the Siren could do anything else, they were assaulted with another wall of bullets from the spawned loaders and turrets.

"Don't screw with a girl and her robot!"

Quickly, the siren moved the sphere to act as over, though the robot's strength seemed to be affecting her control and threatened to break out at any moment. With the last of her power, Maya pushed the sphere, sending they robot crashing with the loaders. Or that was her attention. The sphere sizzled out mid flight and Deathtrap propelled himself toward them again with his energy lance in a thrusting motion.

Gaige could believe it. She was winning the fight. She was actually winning against the Vault Hun…

*slash*

The sound of metal torn apart was chilling as Gaige saw her cybernetic arm cut off cleanly and dropped onto the ground with sparks flying. The assassin. An unconscious part of her mind realized that he could have decapitated her or pierced her heart with the sword just as easily. The spawning mechanic was partially linked to her nerves and would deactivate should she be incapacitated. Or dead. So why was he intentionally sparing her?

Deathtrap froze in motion and dissolved into digiconstruction particles, the signal to assemble it into existence cut off. Gaige felt a hard blow on the back of her neck and she slumped against the supply crate unconscious.

(to be continue)

That's it. A little short and the start seems to be lacking, but that's all i can do for now. What i have said still stands though, about the ties between Zero and Gaige, i mean.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Actually, I've got nothing :P

Read and review!

Chapter 2:

"That *pant* was close." Axton managed to breathe out. After Zero had incapacitated the girl and disabled her strange robot, the team had made quick job of the remaining Hyperion rust buckets. Admittedly it hadn't been as easy as it sounded, given the presence of the hulking constructor that kept spawning loaders and turrets to throw at their faces, but their limited and predictable AI make the work easier, if tedious. It did help that no Hyperion engineers had interfered with the fight. They might have crappy training in fighting from what they could see, but stray bullets were not something they felt comfortable risking now. Or ever.

Maya made a quick evaluation of their group's condition. Axton had a few scratches and burns, nothing too serious. His turret might be out of commission until they got to Sanctuary though. Salvador only suffered from a few shallow bullet wounds and mirror concussion from being threw around by death robot and singularity grenade, so a syringe of insta-health would do for now. The stuff only helped numb the pain and speed up tissue regeneration, but it was effective in tight situations. Naturally Krieg was the one with the most injuries, but those seemed to be healing pretty quickly. What made her pause though was the fact that the psycho wasn't spewing nonsensical phrases in triumph as he normally did after every fight. Instead the literal hulk of the team was standing oddly quiet and staring at Zero, or more correctly, the unconscious girl on his arms. It was a strange sight, seeing the normally aloof assassin holding Gaige in a manner that could almost be described as caring. The Siren was quizzed at Zero's decision to spare the girl, but held it back as the question would most likely be unanswered.

"Let leave the girl here, take the beacon and leave. I have the sudden urge to shoot my own leg now, and we don't know if Jack will throw more shit our way. But mostly the first, so let's get going." Axton drawled impatiently. The fight with Gaige probably made the man more irritable than usual. Salvador seemed to join him in his ill mood, though his was because of being left out of the fun.

It was not that simple though. Gaige was a threat, a big one that Jack would most likely use against them later. Simply leaving the girl where she was now, at Jack's beck and call, was a decision they would well regret further down the line. As it was now, he was simply toying with them for his own amusement. Much as Maya hated to admit it, the only reason their team was alive and standing right now was because he simply disregarded them as threat. Hell, he could have killed them all from the start before dumping the corpses on Windshear waste. But he hadn't. He kept them alive just so he can have more unsuspecting pawns on the chess board to play with. But soon he would either be bored with watching them struggle, or realized they were more than a mere annoyance, and decided to get serious with his attacks. When that time came, she just hoped it was for the later reason.

There was also a part in her, the part that had almost been drowned by the "kill or be killed" lifestyle on Pandora, that refused to let this girl be used by Jack like a disposable tool. Like Wilhelm. Roland had told them that Wilhelm had been Jack's right hand man all the way through his rise to power. Yet in the end he had been used as bait, left on the icy floor of Terminus plateau, dead and forgotten. What was to say Gaige won't end up as another sacrificial pawn? The girl might have great fighting capability, but Maya could still the see innocence and naivety in her eyes, untainted by merciless bloodshed, blind to the cruelty of humanity. Axton could make fun of her living as a monk in the Abby as much as he liked, but at least Maya saw with her own eyes the lengths people would take to quench their thirst for power. The Order thought she didn't see the torture and death of those deemed "heretic". She did. And despite the cliché novelty of it all, she didn't want those eyes faded into a cold, death color.

"Take her and leave, preferably to that Sanctuary of yours." A voice broke Maya out of her musing. Like an ice cold bucket of water to the face, it jolted the Vault Hunters to their feet with weapons ready. The owner of the voice, a middle-aged man in Hyperion engineer suit, raised his hand in the air pleading peace. It was one thing to fight them in supposedly self-defense, but to talk to one of them in a civilized manner is another entirely. It was foreign and surreal.

"Why should we? This temporary truce doesn't make us suddenly go all buddy-buddy with Hyperion." Axton said with the most seriousness she had seen on his face. Unfortunately it was ill-timed.

"You know that Jack is after us, right? Why sending her on a sure-doomed route?" Maya asked, her mid half made up.

"Anything is better than here, to be honest. At least she would die for a better cause." The man shrugged. But the Siren could sense the genuine care in his seemingly nonchalant voice. And the silent plead, to keep the girl on Zero's arms alive. Normally she would have questioned the man's unspoken decision to stay under Jack's tyrannical rule, but they were going short on time at the moment. The jerk up there could send additional troops at any moment and it's best that they kept moving.

"Okay."

"You can't be serious!" Came Axton's yell.

"As a matter of fact, I am. Now get your ass moving." She glared at the Dahl ex-soldier, daring him to oppose. To his credit, Axton knew to back down, seeing as no other member of the group complained about Maya's decision. "Zero, give the girl to Krieg, and take that metal arm of her while you're at it. We also need the lunar supply beacon."

"Suit yourself. And take care of that arm of her. Girl would flip if she finds so much as a scratch on the paint job." The man chuckled, though she could see his mild eye twitch when Gaige was handed over to the muscular psycho, who had been oddly silent through their brief conversation. Krieg took Gaige in his arms with surprising care, like a man would carry his child. Might have been one of his bouts of sanity surfacing again.

And with that, they left the Outwash without further complication.

"Send in the Constructors! I want those bastards dead NOW!"

Maya let loose another string of curses when waves after waves of loaders were sent down from the moonbase. The robots were not particularly accurate with their shots, but they made up for it with pure number. It felt like every bot they took down, another two would join the fight. Chunks of smoking metals littered the ground, further hindering their movement. It didn't help that the ammo vending machine had been blown up by one stray grenade and they now had no means of replenishing ammunition. It was fortunate that Axton had tinkered with his turret and sacrificed its suppressing fire capability for generating a phalanx shield to protect both Gaige and the lunar supply beacon. The ground shook violently as a constructor, one even bigger than the one they had fought in the Outwash, landed. They had to dive for cover as multiple turrets were digistructed and laid waste to the already battered ground.

"How the fuck do we kill that thing?" Axton cursed again besides her as he reached for the storage deck only to find all his AR ammo had been depleted. "This is impossible!"

"You got any grenade left?"

"Yeah, but only two."

"Reckon you can throw it between the constructors and the turrets?"

"I can try."

With a loud cry, Axton tossed the grenade over their cover. The aim was slightly off to the side, but it did pulled the turrets together and slightly tipped the constructor enough to stop it from spawning new loaders. Seeing the opportunity, Zero pierced the thing's 'eye' with multiple pistol bullets while Salvador blaster at the turrets with two Hyperion shotguns that he managed to salvage from the fallen loaders. Their small victory was short-lived though and the loaders pushed further in the center of town with the distraction provided. Krieg, who had to cease his buzzaxe frenzy against so many enemies, had to dodge to one BUL loader before hacking his combat axe at its exposed visor and joints. Just as Maya thought things couldn't be worse, several EXP loaders made a run for Gaige and the lunar beacon.

"The EXP! Stop them!" The Siren shouted.

Just as the suicide bots approached the raised platform though, they suddenly exploded in a violent chain reaction. As the smoke and debris subsided, Maya saw Gaige holding a pistol on her hand and something akin to a mixture of shock and fear on her face.

"They're launching the fast-travel station now. Nothing gets results like a death threat."

Maya almost sagged in relief when she heard Angel's voice on the ECHO comm. Almost instantly, a moonshot landed in the middle of the town center and the casing cracked open to reveal a new fast-travel station. With renewed morale, the team opened fire at the loaders with vigor and stopped the loader's advance.

"The fast-travel has landed! Gimme a second to calibrate it to Sanctuary's new position!"

"Zero! Grab Gaige! We gotta move!"

With Salvador providing suppressing fire, Zero swept Gaige off her feet and carried the still shocked girl toward the new station. Axton also quickly swiped his converted turret and Gaige's cybernetic arm, cutting it close as a WAR loader attempted to stomp him. Seeing to it that the three disappeared into the digi-travel network, Maya grabbed Salvador's arm and almost punched the activate button with how hard she pushed their hand on it. The Vault Hunters literally tumbled out into the floor of Sanctuary, feeling like they had just gone to hell and back to heaven, except for Zero who had somehow managed to arrive standing with Gaige still secured on his arms. Poor girl seemed like she had been brought to the lion's den. Which, in retrospect, is pretty accurate actually. Glancing up sideways, Maya saw Lilith and Roland standing in front of them.

"Oh, good. You're not dead."

"That's his way of saying: 'Wow, you're badasses. I'm glad you're okay." Lilith drawled in amused exaggeration. "Now, mind introducing your new Hyperion friend here?"

End.

AN: Now, I try to keep the story as realistic as possible, so no skill points or New-U station. Don't fear though. With Gaige in the team, it's guaranteed that the Vault Hunter will get their upgrade soon enough, like Axton's double missile-launching turrets or Zero's badass Many must fall (I love the skill. Pure awesomeness :P). Maya will train her power and create new effect now that they were not in a mad rush to rescue Roland, hijack Hyperion train and whatnot. Oh, and thanks to a random guy, who had given me the idea. Not that I would use it though, to not spoil the story *cough* no, not at all.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry for the long delay guys, but university works are drowning me, not to mention the Lunar New Year is like days away so it had been a really busy week for me. I just hope I can squeeze out one more chapter in the two weeks off, but don't count on it.

Chapter 3:

"Well, it's…kind of a long story."

"It's not like we're having moonshots raining down our heads any time soon. But first, let's get her 'comfortable', shall we? Zero, if you please."

With barely a nod, Zero set Gaige on solid ground, still with a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling.

"Oh, here ya go." Axton handed the metal arm back to the girl, who tentatively reached out and gripped it to her chest like her life depended on it. It was a move not without risk, Maya thought, for all they knew she could summon the robot right then and there. But it's a necessary step to gain this girl's trust. If what the man back at the Outwash said was true, Gaige wasn't just a blind follower of Jack and they could still convert her to their side.

The few steps to the Crimson Raider HQ were agonizingly slow for Gaige, from what Maya could tell from her downcast face and hunched posture. Surprisingly no one had started cursing the moment they saw her Hyperion uniform, considering how many they had lost during the attack just a day or two ago. Then again, maybe they were now too exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"Ah…you're back. And with a souvenir I see." Mordecai said from his seat in the corner with his usual half drunk half sober voice. Bloodwing was surprisingly quiet, though it was a little unsettling that the bird was staring at Gaige and followed her movement with its eyes like it would a prey. What followed was not so much a mission debriefs but at retelling of their ordeal by Maya with Salvador and Axton occasionally butting in to add some more details. Krieg was also relieving some of his gory moments with his buzzaxe weaving around too animatedly for comfort, but everyone had learned to tune him out by now. Except for Gaige, the girl was trying to be as flat against the wall as possible to keep distance from the psycho.

"So let me sum it up: you gunned your way through the Fridge, almost got your asses handed to you by this girl in the Hyperion Outwash and decided to keep her, set up a lunar supply beacon and order a new fast travel station via moonshot. Am I missing anything?"

"Technically it's the girl and her death robot." Axton scratched the back of his head. "But…yeah."

"Beaten by a little girl. So much for the unstoppable Vault Hunters."

"Joking matters aside, what we need now is a plan. Jack's getting closer and closer to digging up the Warrior, and we still don't know where he's got the Vault Key stashed."

"I can help you with that."

"You?! Dammit! We told you never to contact us again!"

"Will you please just hear me out…"

"Sure, let's listen to the crazy computer that just tried to kill us. Hey, remember that time she told us the Vault was full of loot? B'side, I'm sure we can get something out of our new "friend" with a little...persuasion." From the corner of her eye, Maya could see Gaige shuddered at the word "persuasion".

"It's with me! I'm charging the Vault Key!"

"…continue." Roland added with a little hesitation.

"The Key naturally charges itself once every two hundred years. Jack is patient, but he's not that patient – he's been using my power to forcibly charge the Key with Eridium. If you find me, you find the Vault Key. The Vault Key is housed in my AI Control Core atop Thousands Cuts. It's protected by three impassable security hurdles. The first is a competitor deterrent field that will obliterate any non-Hyperion entity passing through it."

"Competitor deterrent field? What. Like, a death wall?"

"It's a field of pure thermasonic energy programmed to atomize any unauthorized personnel."  
"So, yeah. A death wall." Roland commented.

"Beyond that lies the second hurdle: a defense bunker outfitted with the most high-tech weaponry Hyperion can afford."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Pass the bunker, you'll have to get through the final hurdle: a door that will only open for Handsome Jack."

"Well that sounds even worse."

This will be your only opportunity to steal the Vault Key and stop Jack from controlling the Warrior. I'm out of time – do what you will, but promise me this: no matter what happens – do not allow Lilith into my chambers."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't know about you, but all this seems a little suspicious. What did she means by "my power"? Isn't she an AI?" Mordecai said from the corner.

"I know that it's risky, but it's our only lead now. If she was luring us into a trap, she would have made it sound a little bit possible."

"If we're taking this bitch down, I'm coming – trap or not." Maya winced at the other Siren's words. They didn't know if Angel was really on their side this time, but she did technically save their team back at Overlook. Not to mention her message had probably saved Gaige from a section of interrogation by Lilith. She really didn't want to know what "persuasion" Lilith had in mind would be like.

"Well, don't we already have a Hyperion worker, you know, standing in this room?" Axton said.

"I don't think it's gonna work. Jack would have known of Gaige being with us by now. There were dozen of surveyors during the fight in Overlook, several of which probably have caught her on audio feats. Even if the jackass doesn't know of our plan, he must have invalidated her registration, 'just in case'." Maya shook her head. "B'side, there's no guarantee her registration would work. Jack can't be so careless as to let any and all Hyperion personnel enter the Control Core Angel. Else we could have raid any Hyperion outpost and rack up a dozen of ID cards."

"She's right, soldier. We need a more reliable plan. I bet your friend Claptrap could get through that Hyperion force field. He's out of date though. He needs a software upgrade. The closest Hyperion base with full authorization to the network is the Preserve, but we need time to infiltrate and get the data."

"Just leave that to me. Been aching for some action. We will get that data for you guys in no time." Mordecai sat up and shouldered his Maliwan sniper rifle. "What d'ya say, girl?"

*Squawk*

The sound startled almost everyone as they realized Bloodwing was no where near the man. To their surprise, the bird was making itself comfortable on Gaige's shoulders, with the girl looking up in a mixture of fright and reluctant fascination. With a flap of its wings, Bloodwing was again perched on Mordecai's arm, while Gaige was caught in the stare of everyone in the room. It can hardly be blamed though, for Bloodwing was not known for being "civil" with anyone other than the sniper, even his old teammates.

"Seems like she likes you, kid." Mordecai chuckled. "I'll be on my way. See ya guys later."

And with that, he vaulted over the HQ balcony with his bird in tow while Lilith just shrugged in exaggeration.

"So…what do we do now?" Salvador said.

"It would take some times for Mordecai to infiltrate the Hyperion Preserve. In the mean time we can do nothing but wait. You can go around town, see if anyone needs help with the reconstruction." Roland waved the team away, though his gaze lingered on Maya for a second.

With that, everyone shuffled out of the room, with Axton and Salvador practically dragging Zero and Gaige to Moxxi's. Everyone, except for Maya.

"Maya, you understand that taking this girl is a huge risk, right?" Lilith said in a dead serious voice. "Our force has been crippled by the recent attack; we cannot afford another double-crosser on our hand at the moment."

"I understand, but Gaige is not like any other Hyperion goons we have encountered. She's just…misled. If we can get her to see Jack for who he is, we may gain a powerful ally."

"Roland?"

"If what Maya said is true, then this may benefit us in the long run. We need all the help we can get at the moment. But if anything happens, it's on your hands."

"I understand."

"Good. She's your responsibility now. Our force is as thin as it can get. We can't afford guards to watch her, so you will have to do the deed for now. Take her on any side missions you may get until Mordecai reports back, that way she won't have access to our database and transmission. Is that acceptable?"

"That's okay."

"Good, you are dismissed."

It shouldn't have been a surprise for Maya to find Axton and Salvador in a drinking contest. Normally she would have chewed their head for letting their guard down so soon, but seeing people in the bar cheering on the two while shouting out bets, she decided to let them off this time. At least like this people could forget about their loss for a little while. It's good to see people up on their feet so quickly, instead of drowning in hatred and despair. Doing a quick scan of the bar, she spotted Gaige sitting next to Hammerlock in a corner. The man was clearly reliving his epic hunts in the wild and Gaige seems to be absorbed into the tales, her eyes wide in amazement. It was a cute sight, if Maya had to be honest. Getting the girl to open up might not be so hard after all.

-Line break-

"Well, here we are. Not much, but at least we have a separate room. God know what the boys do on their beds." Maya said, opening the latch door to into their bedroom, with Gaige reluctantly peeking in. It was as clean and organized as one could get, with a nightstand, a rusty but stable-looking bunk bed and…that's it. Settling on the beds was a quite process, though getting their sleep was another matter.

"Why are you so good to me?" Gaige said quietly, massaging the recently fixed shoulder joint on her metal arm. The welding could have been better, but that's all they could do with the crude tools Scooter had lent them. "We're enemies."

"Well, that's subject to change, really. Depends on what we're fighting for." Maya said, using her arms as pillow.

"Jack's working to bring peace and order to Pandora." Gaige said, but Maya could hear uncertainty in her voice.

"Well, we're saving Pandora from JACK'S rule. Tell me, what kind of wise and kind leader is he to have no qualms with shooting unarmed men and women like it's going out of style?"

"They're bandits, savages."

"Oh really? Then what about all the people in Sanctuary? They just want a home, a shelter to protect themselves from everything out there, and Jack set moonshots on them on a daily basic."

"…"

"Look, Gaige." Maya sighed. "I don't disagree that this planet is filled with murderers and psychopaths, but there're still sane people who want nothing more than living a normal life. That's why Roland founded this place, Sanctuary – a home to those who can't defend themselves. But Jack cares for none of that. He had wiped out New Haven, and if he gains control of the Warrior, he will do the same thing to this place. That's why we're fighting him, to protect the life we have tried so much to build."

"…I…will think about it…Goodnight…Maya…"

The Siren smiled.

"Good night, Gaige."

AN: Don't expect Gaige to join the team just yet, as I don't want her to come off as a gullible and easily manipulated girl. Sorry if the pace is too slow, but I tend to pay attention to details just as much if not more than to plot progression.


End file.
